A number of lifters in CrossFit have heard problems with their posture. This is called anterior pelvic tilt (APT). When a person stands, and you look at the waistband, you will notice the front sitting lower than the back. This is because the pelvis is forward tilted. When you have anterior pelvic tilt, your abs will protrude and look fatter than they are. The same applies to your glutes which cannot be stimulated during the CrossFit workout because the hip flexors are wound tight, and your lower back is locked up. The question is, how do you know a person has APT? The best way is to ask them to remove their shirt and take a photo of themselves from the side. Looking at the photo, you will see abs out, lower back scrunched up, and glutes way back. To correct this, you have to do some posture work. Top Ways on How to Fix APT As you do your CrossFit workout, there are four things you should rethink to get out of this problem and put your posture back to a more neutral position. Pay Attention to Your Ribs If your torso is an extension every time you breathe, you should get it out of extension. The best way around this is to always think ribs down on every movement you do. You can start from your chair by placing one hand on the upper abdomen and then exhale with your mouth as you simultaneously crunch your abs together. You will notice an increased engagement which means there is activation of some parts of your core which have been asleep. Your rib position when doing a deadlift and when squatting need to factor in your APT. Breathe Right For any CrossFit training routine, proper breathing patterns are important. When you exhale, your ribs depress, and this creates an abdominal engagement that is important if you are battling APT. When you are doing deadlift, the exhale will start occurring before you get to an upright position. This will set the stage so that as you finish, your ribs will be down and your glutes engaged. Strengthen Your Abs Bringing your ribs down and drawing your hips back to a more neutral position will add tension to your core. As you exhale through the mouth, let your focus be on exhaling over the entire duration through the eccentric. Don’t do a sharp exhale. The exercises in CrossFit workout include leg lower drill, dead bug exercise, and reverse crunch. Fix Your Hip Thrusts People with APT are heavily extended over the lower back. This makes the glutes not to contribute much. For this reason, driving the hips towards the ceiling may not work because this will overtask the low back. The recommended movement is to tilt the hips up and back. When you do this, your pelvis will be posteriorly sloping at the top, and this will keep the stress off your lower back. Some other measures to include in your list of CrossFit workouts are those that will improve your stance and take care of your spinal movements.

In many training programs, the volume is often overlooked. In case you are wondering what volume is all about, simply defined, it refers to the total weight lifted during the training session. It is the weight x reps at that particular weight x sets at that respective rep scheme for each of the weights lifted during the training session of CrossFit workout. It is a total of all weights. Studies have revealed that volume is a primary concern when training for hypertrophy and strength. As the volume increases, there is a tendency to get bigger and stronger unless there is a hindrance. The more work you do, the more jacked you get. Top Three Ways You Can Jack Up Volume Because the volume equation comprises three different variables, you can enhance your volume in three different ways in your CrossFit training routine. The first way is to lift more weight at the same set and rep. For instance, in one workout, you can do biceps curls with 50 pounds at 4 x 12. In the next workout, you can top up the weight to 55 pounds at the same 4 x 12. The second way is to lift the same level of weight, but this time increasing the number of reps per set. For instance, you can do 50 pounds at 4 x 12 and 4 x 15. The third way is for you to increase the number of sets for every workout. In this instance, you can do 4 x 12 and 5 x 12 with the same 50 pounds weight. Tracking Your Volume As a general expectation, your volume should increase over time. You don’t necessarily have to lift more volume in every successive CrossFit workout, but in the long run, the expectation is to see an upward trend. If your graph is instead flattening out despite you lifting more weight, chances are you have reached your ultimate limits or something could be something wrong with your training. Because of this, it is important to track your volume on a regular basis. You can use pen and paper, a computer spreadsheet, or tap into online services that are customized to make it easier for you to do the tracking. Volume of Strength Training for strength is different from training for size. Strength training brings onboard high-intensity lifts within the range of 1 to 6 reps and over 75% of your 1RM. This is the range that gives you the muscle fiber recruitment and neurological adaptations needed to handle bulky weights. When strength training, the only way to calculate volume is to count the reps you do which are greater than 75% of 1RM. This is more accurate because any warm-up sets are eliminated as they do not contribute anything towards strength training. When you are volume training for size, you should be careful because it can get confusing. Training for size uses more than one part of the body and tracking this may not be easy. For instance, triceps pushdowns and dips are both exercises targeting the triceps. However, since they vary in terms of mechanical advantages the chances are slim that you will be able to lift the same level of weight in both. The solution here is to focus on one lift per CrossFit workout.

When starting your journey in any of the CrossFit Gyms, there are several types of equipment that you must get along the way to enable you swiftly transit into this high-intensity field and maximize your experience. It is important to note that this is not a must-have gear, but instead pieces of equipment you will find convenient and useful having if you want to work out regularly and boost your performance. Jump Rope Most CrossFit gyms just have the basic jump ropes that beginners can borrow. To make your workout worthwhile, you should consider getting your own quality jump rope. The important elements in any jump rope include the weight which you should be comfortable with and the ability to customize the length of the rope. Among the benefits of a jump rope include calorie burning, agility building and quickness, increased bone density, and brain exercise. Research indicates that jumping rope even at a moderate pace can help you burn 10 to 16 calories per minute. So, if you want to get lighter on your feet within the first 6 to 12 months of you joining CrossFit, a jump rope can help you attain that. Weightlifting Shoes This is arguably one of the single most important CrossFit gear that will push you towards increasing your strength and enhancing your Olympic weightlifting. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself spending over $200 to get that perfect shoe. There are important aspects that you should be looking for in these shoes such as: The drop – This refers to the difference between the height of the forefoot and that of the heel. Look for a 4mm drop to enable you evenly to distribute your weight across your foot. Hard sore – This gives you stability. Durable outer shoe – When doing tough exercises such as maxi lift the traction on the topside of your shoe is equally important. Weight Belt When attacking heavier weights in movements such as cleans and deadlifts, you need a decent belt which will keep you safe. There is a huge array of belts out there, but it is important to go for the right one. A good belt according to experts from CrossFit Gyms should be long-lasting and sturdy leather is a good material that can serve you for a long time. If you aim to be a competitive powerlifter, get a belt that is tapered in the front 5 to 7 cm wide and at the back 10 cm wide. The thickness should be around 10 to 13 mm so that it can give you a good starting position for deadlift. Wrist Wraps As their name suggests, wrist wraps are quite useful in ensuring your wrists are protected as you start hitting snatches, heavy cleans, and overhead squats in your CrossFit training routine. With about $25, you can get quality wrist wraps. There you go! Check again to see if you have all of the above and in case any is missing, make arrangements and have it zipped in. it is for your own benefit.  

At the beginning of time, kettlebells were categorized as one of the mysterious training which nobody knew anything much. Today, it is a strength tool commonly used in CrossFit workouts. There are some CrossFit monsters who have repackaged and commercialized the exercise targeting both beginner CrossFitters and those who have been in the game for quite a while. That said, kettlebells do not change. The facts remain as well as the overall awesomeness. A Brief History of Kettlebell Training Kettlebell originated from the Russians. The use of kettlebell can be traced as early as the 1700s, but it was not used as an exercise tool, but rather a piece of equipment that helped farmers in measuring outcrops. Long ago, before the introduction of CrossFit workouts, the farmers out of boredom or unintended curiosity started swinging the kettlebells. They realized the more they did this, the stronger and healthier they become. In the late 19th century, Vladislav Kraevsky introduced kettlebell and barbell to the Russian training. One of the units of measures associated with kettlebell and weightlifting is the pood. Roughly, one pood measures about 16 kilograms or 36 pounds. The pood can also be measured in fractions. The most common weights used in kettlebell training are: 1 pood which measures about 36 pounds 5 pood which is equivalent to 54 pounds 2 pood which is 72 pounds Why Kettlebell Training Kettlebells are excellent for conditioning and strength. The studies that have been done on this strength training tool have all come to a consensus that through kettlebell swings, any athlete can develop their weightlifting and powerlifting fitness. Even if you use the kettlebell alone, it can easily whip you into shape. In a nutshell, kettlebell training will: Increase your strength and muscle mass Enhance your cardiovascular health Boost your maximal and explosive strength Increase your jumping power Improve VO2 max and conditioning It can thus be said that kettlebell is an extremely powerful tool and if you use it properly, it can give you transferable skills that you can apply in other sports. What are the Common Kettlebell Exercises There are a lot of variations of CrossFit workouts that you can do using a kettlebell. However, the following are the common ones. Kettlebell swing Windmill Snatch Clean Turkish Getup Goblet squat Double kettlebell push press There are lots of kettlebell programs, exercises, and classes out there. However, you can add a kettlebell training cycle to your current CrossFit training routine to help you develop an edge without necessarily overtaxing or overtraining your body. Remember kettlebell training primarily focuses on strength and power. It is recommended that you have at least 1 to 2 minutes of rest in between exercises and a further 2 to 3 minutes of rest in between sets. If your drive is to boost conditioning and intensity, just shorten the rest times to about 30 seconds. A typical kettlebell training cycle lasts 6 weeks where you exercise twice a week.  

There is a push for athletes to master rope climbing because of the benefit it has in improving arm strength, back strength, and grip strength. With rope climbing, you can easily learn how to lift your bodyweight and build confidence in your abilities. If you have not as yet done it, it is important you incorporate this wonderful exercise into your CrossFit training routine. Among the many benefits you are likely to reap from rope climbing include: Grip Strength The grip is often a limiting factor, and this means that any lifts which involve the grip can only be done to the extent of your grip strength. For instance, you may have a strong back, but if you don’t have a great grip, then your deadlift will be limited. Rope climbing is categorized as one of the fantastic exercises that help in building grip strength. To do this, you should first hold your weight for an extended period, and secondly, you should resist gravity as you progressively climb higher and higher. This makes your grip to work unilaterally as well as stabilize your body. Arm Strength When climbing the rope, your arms are pushed to extend as they pull your body higher. The dynamic created on your arms by this movement cannot be effectively created or achieved through your regular pull-up and chin-up CrossFit exercises. Every instance you pull yourself up, you are forcing your arms to work in unison. Back Strength Adding Rope climbing into your CrossFit training routine can help out in strengthening your lats and the upper back musculature. When climbing the rope, your body is forced to pull close to the rope, and this means your lats are put to work much in the same way they move during a chin-up or pull-up exercise. The major difference between rope climbing and pull-ups is that lots of stabilization are required when climbing the rope. A Power Indicator Your ability to climb a rope fast is strongly correlated with upper body power. In 2015, there was a study done and published in Research Gate which compared the power output of a timed 5-meter rope climb with other tests for upper body power such as medicine ball throw, pull-up test, and 1-RM bench press. According to the researchers, having rope climbing in CrossFit training routine is a more reliable and valid test for the assessment of upper body power. Confidence Another difference that exists between rope climbing and other exercises you do in the CrossFit gym is the fact that a clear-cut finish line exists which is the top of the rope. Every time you climb and get to the top on your own, your confidence levels rise. As you start adding progressions including removing your feet, you can clearly see that your strength is improving. For you to engage successfully in rope climbing, your central nervous system must be in shape because the exercise draws heavily on this. For ease of climbing, you must do adequate chin-ups and pull-ups as a prerequisite so that your elbows may not experience much discomfort during the exercise.

Nutrition is the cornerstone of the results that manifest in your fitness endeavor. If you get the nutrition wrong, you will experience difficulties shifting your body fat and enhancing muscle mass. It doesn’t matter if you never miss your workout of the day, the bottom line is your performance will feel stalled. There are athletes out there who are getting amazing results from the zone, paleo, or other forms of clean eating. In the same vein, some athletes get results from measuring their macronutrient intake while there are those who don’t measure and yet get results. In light of these huge variations in nutrition plans and approaches, it is important to know what separates those that work from the rest that simply crashes and burn. There are certain things you shouldn’t do in a training plan because they will never yield any results. The experts from CrossFit nutrition here discuss some of the top nutritional mistakes that unfortunately athletes continue committing. Unclear Priorities Take an instance where you want to improve your snatch. Most certainly, there are steps you will have to take in your training plan so as to make it happen. The approach will be different from that designed to achieve fitness in another workout. In the same way, when thinking about CrossFit nutrition, you should program it in such a way that it meets your fitness goals. If you don’t have clear priorities, it becomes very difficult to link your plan to the priorities. Decide on your priorities and ensure your diet plan works to drive you there and not act as an obstacle. Abusing the Off Day Rest days are very critical and should form part of every CrossFit training routine. Days off enhance your recovery and are important to keep you balanced and sane. However, the biggest problem is that some CrossFit athletes do not plan these off days in their diets. Instead, they are seen more as days in which the athletes may indulge as they rebel from their saintly kitchen behaviors. When you have this mindset, a single cheat day will turn into many cheat days and this will ruin your nutrition plan. Make your cheat day part of your plan. Failure to Evaluate and Adjust Tracking results is important in any project, training program, and just about anything that you do. Since nutrition accounts for a higher percentage of the changes you experience, it is crazy not to evaluate and reevaluate your nutrition on a regular basis. On average, people think that their diet is healthy, but in a real sense, it is not. According to CrossFit nutrition, you can start off by tracking every food and drink that goes into your body system for at least a fortnight. This will give you an idea of the calories you are packing into your system or simply how healthy your meals are. Following the Hype Going with the flow is the most dangerous approach to training and CrossFit nutrition. Just like the fact that you cannot go high-fiving everyone during your bench press sessions simply because the other person is doing their thing, in nutrition, it works the same way. Don’t go with the hype in terms of supplements, trends, and what everyone is talking about. Have a solid plan informed by the foods that work. In nutrition, there is no fairness and equality. Even if you eat the same way as another person, you cant expect to get the same results. Therefore, design your own plan, tweak it, and make it truly yours.

Have you ever thought how you could gain a perfect fit body without lifting heavy weights? Well, there are lots of exercises that can assure you of an overall fitness and strength improvement without the hassle and nightmare of pulling and pushing heavy loads. The most popular CrossFit workout that can give you exactly this is walking lunges. Whenever people get into an exercise, their main aim is to achieve overall fitness and particularly tone their muscles. That said, there are parts of the body that subconsciously tend to be left out during these routine workouts. These are the outer and inner thighs. These muscles are important, but surprisingly some athletes are not aware of this. Toning up the inner and outer thighs makes you appealing as well as boosts your athletic performance and promotes hip stability. Lunges give you an excellent way to strengthen your hips and develop thigh muscles. It mainly concentrates on two types of muscles: the knee extensors and hip extensors. The lunges movement is similar to squatting save for the wide range of motion and stress on the muscles when performing lunges.  For purposes of discussion and analysis, lunges can be divided into two walking lunges and stationary lunges. Stationary Lunges This type of lunge comprises a downward movement where a strong eccentric contraction of the glutes, hams, and quads is exerted. This ensures the whole bodyweight falls on the forward leg. At the same time, the backward leg gives you better support and balance. On the upward movement, both the front and backward legs bear the pressure and push your body back to the standing position. Walking Lunges In this lunge, the downward movement remains almost the same with an equal amount of pressure exerted on the thigh and leg muscles. However, on the upward movement, the focus is on the forward leg. The muscles of this leg contract to stand straight again. If there is one thing you need throughout this CrossFit exercise, it is stability. Since walking lunges are preferred to stationary lunges because they utilize all the thigh and leg muscles, they do not work the rear leg muscles as effectively, and this is why it is critical that you perform both stationary lunges and walking lunges at regular intervals. What You Gain from Walking Lunges There are lots of benefits, which you can get from walking lunges some of which include: Improved Balance –Since the lunges workout involves both sides of your body, it helps in improving coordination and balance. Boosts Functionality –Walking lunges train your body in a way to improve its functionality as well as helping you to acquire a better body posture. Symmetrical Toning –By the fact that walking lunges focus on some of the most ignored parts of your body, they help in achieving a symmetrically toned body. They address some of the other body parts which other exercises overlook. Improves Hip Flexibility –Walking lunges enhances the flexibility of your hip flexor muscles which may become tight because of the sedentary lifestyle most of us lead. In addition to the above benefits, including walking lunges in your CrossFit training routine enhance core stability, tone gluteal muscles, and gives rest to your spine.

Creatine is one of those supplements best suited for the job. Anyone wanting to improve their CrossFit workout performance, creatine is the supplement to go for. Regarding popularity, this sports supplement is arguably more peer-reviewed than any other. The number of positive testimonials from CrossFit alone is sufficient to convince you that it is crucial and should be included in your diet. As early as the 90s, creatine had already started becoming a popular sports supplement, and to date, its benefits have continued growing. Below are some of the ways this amazing supplement will help you in boosting your CrossFit workout performance. The beauty of every claim around creatine is that it is supported by scientific research and proven real-world testimonials. Creatine Enhances Your Strength Studies done reveal that the amount you can lift in workouts such as deadlifts, bench presses, and squats can improve by as much as 50% more when you are in this supplement. This surpasses by far the gains you can make in 8 to 12 weeks when exercising without supplementing. Faster Muscle Building It is common to hear an athlete has gained 5 pounds of muscle or even more after a few weeks of using the supplement. Critics have argued that what creatine adds is only water weight and not real muscle and therefore can be lost quickly. Again, studies have proved the critics wrong because creatine adds pure muscle with very little water. Since creatine is stored in your muscles and not under the skin, you will not look bloated or puffy, but rather your muscles will look fuller and better. Fast Recovery Between Sets The number of reps, which you are capable of doing will depend on a great deal the recovery and the quality of it in between your sets. Creatine helps in getting your muscles recover faster which means you will put more effort than you normally would in the next set. As the set progresses, you become much stronger. Apart from the above benefits, creatine also reduces your chance of cramping. We all know that cramping in the middle of your CrossFit training routine can easily grind your CrossFit workout to a halt. The Best Creatine Supplement for CrossFit There are a lot of creatine-based supplements in the CrossFit industry, and this may confuse you when you are searching for a credible variety to supplement your CrossFit workout. Without fronting any names, the best criteria to follow when shopping, is to look for that variety that is tested before and after packaging for purity. The only ingredient present in the supplement whichever brand it is should be creatine monohydrate. Also, every serving of the supplement should give you an equivalent of 5 grams of creatine. Lastly, the creatine supplement you purchase should be micronized. This means it is milled into tiny particles thereby helping it to dissolve faster and remain dissolved even while drinking. The best way to take creatine is fast to load it. This is where you take sufficient creatine to fill your muscles. For this reason, it is called the loading phase. The second step is the maintenance phase where you just take enough to fill up your muscles. The loading phase takes about 20 grams per day for a period of 5 to 7 days while the maintenance phase only involves taking 5 grams per day.